cyber trends
DATA FROM NTT LTD’S
LATEST GLOBAL THREAT
INTELLIGENCE REPORT
SUPPORTS THE FACT THAT
CYBERCRIMINALS ARE INNOVATING
FASTER THAN EVER. RORY DUNCAN,
SECURITY GO TO MARKET LEADER UK,
NTT LTD, DISCUSSES SOME OF THE
TACTICS THAT CYBERCRIMINALS ARE
USING TO INITIATE ATTACKS AND HOW
ORGANISATIONS CAN LEVERAGE
AUTOMATION TO HELP THEM
BECOME MORE SECURE AND
CYBER-RESILIENT.
espite best efforts
D
by organisations
to layer up their
cyberdefences,
it is the hackers
and saboteurs
that continue to
lead the race in cybersecurity. What’s
more is that they are innovating faster
than ever too.
Two can
play that
innovation game
As our world becomes ever more
connected, so too has the attack
surface, creating a huge playground for
cybercriminals who now have multiple
ways of stealing a company’s data – and
often going largely unnoticed. They’re
also taking advantage of innovative
technologies such as Artificial Intelligence
(AI), robotics and automation which means
that we are now seeing cyberattacks
taking place at machine speed.
Indeed, this is supported by the 2020
Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR)
which reveals that some 21% of malware
detected in 2019 was in the form of a
vulnerability scanner, supporting the
premise that automation is a key focus
point of attackers.
Having experienced overwhelming
success using tools such as web shells,
exploit kits and targeted ransomware,
adversaries are still developing
effective multifunction attack tools and
capabilities. Remote code execution
(15%) and injection (14%) attacks were
the most common techniques observed
in the report globally. And in most
cases, due to continued poor practice
by organisations in relation to network,
operating system and application
configuration, testing, security controls
and overall security hygiene, these
attacks continue to be effective.
There’s also been a re-emergence of
Internet of Things (IoT) weaponisation,
with a resurgence of Botnets such as
IoTroop and EchoBot who have reared
18 Issue 28 | www.intelligentciso.com